1 December 2014 Edition

The G20, the G5 and BRICS

Already we can see that Western sanctions against Russia have merely intensified the coming together of what is now being called the G5

THE G20 SUMMIT of the world’s most advanced economies took
place in Brisbane, Australia, in November.

But the main significance of the G20 Summit wasn’t the
ritualistic condemnations of Russia for refusing to bow to Western demands over
Ukraine (as reported by RTÉ) but the most significant meeting of the leaders of
the five BRICS states – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

These five states agreed to intensify their focus on
creating an alternative global financial centre to the current domination of
the dollar, thereby freeing developing countries from the death-grip control of
Western capitalism.

Already we can see that Western sanctions against Russia
have merely intensified the coming together of what is now being called the G5.
This development has profound implications for Europe and the eurozone in
particular, especially the choice of going down with the dollar and backing US
foreign policy to the hilt, or crying stop and breaking free of global
multinational corporation control of the world’s economies.

True to form, RTÉ didn’t even mention this development in
its reports on the G20 Summit, but in the January 2015 edition of An
Phoblacht, political commentator Eoin Ó Murchú will give a full analysis of
the G5 and what it could mean for Ireland.